Mt Ascutney Prevention Partnership

HEALTH BY DESIGN

Health is crucial to a person's quality of life and depends on heredity, food choices, physical activity, and the surrounding environment. Developing environments that support healthy decisions takes community input and intention.  MAPP supports communities in designing healthier, safer spaces for people to live, work, and play.

Health by Design

Municipalities, schools, developers, and workplaces can influence factors that support health. These factors are shaped through policy and planning decisions focused on healthy design. When the environment is designed to be healthy, it is easier for individuals to make decisions that support and promote health and wellbeing.

Why We Care


How MAPP is helping

MAPP helps towns envision the type of community they want and how to implement policies that support that vision. For example, we work with key partners, such as town governments and individual retailers, to implement policies that restrict youth access to advertising for age-restricted products like tobacco and alcohol. We worked with Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission to develop a template health chapter for town plans, making it easy for towns to create a foundation for health-promoting policy change. Upon request, we can assist with surveys to gauge community support and provide data about community needs and priorities from local and regional assessments.

What you can do

There are many ways an individual can help create a community where the healthy choice is the easy choice. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Let your selectboard or town manager know if you want to see policy changes to support a healthy environment, such as smoke-free parks or funding for sidewalks
  • Make a personal contribution to the food safety net by volunteering at the food shelf or a community meal
  • Invite a co-worker to join you for a walking meeting
  • Shop at retailers who place age-restricted products out of sight (or don’t sell them) - evidence shows that youth are heavily influenced in their choices by what they see in their environment